Jack Wilson is a former Boston University Lacrosse captain for the 2018 season. During the season, he amassed a number of awards, including being named to the Tewaaraton Watch List and Patriot League Second Team. Jack talks about why he chose BU, how a high school athlete can get on a coach's radar, and the craziest goal he ever witnessed.
2aDays: What kind of training does the program implementation to help you guys stay in shape through offseason and the summer?
“Glenn does an excellent job of putting together summer programs for us. It's a Monday-Friday program that's pretty easy to follow, and it brings you through different kinds of conditioning, long and short sprints, and also a lifting program. In the summer it's more of conditioning and getting in shape, so there's a lot of heavy lifting. By the time the fall rolls around, that's also focused mostly on conditioning and strength training, along with practices. By the time January rolls around we're ready to go.”
2aDays: Your team had a 47-man roster last season. While that's considered to be around the average size, what's the competition like for roster spots on the travel team?
“We always kind of play with the ‘next-man-up' mentality. Injuries do occur, and everyone's practicing really hard year-round, and when they get their opportunity, they're ready to go. I think [the competition] helps the starters because it pushes them always continue to want to get better, and the guys who don't have the opportunity to travel or get on the field are scratching and clawing to get that playing time, so I think it's really good and it makes our team a lot better.”
2aDays: As a high schooler, what do you think the best thing is to do to get on a college coach's radar?
“I think the recruiting process is pretty crazy for all different sports and starts pretty early. The most important advice I have is to play a bunch of different sports. Don't specify one specific sport. I think that kind of wears you out and makes you kind of a one-dimensional player. I think if you're playing football or basketball and then lacrosse, or whatever it may be, it keeps your skills sharp, and I think it's a good way to show coaches that you're not just a one-dimensional kind of player.”
2aDays: This coming year will be the program's sixth season. What do you think is different about being on a relatively new team as opposed to a team that's been around for a while?
“After graduating this past year, it's cool to see the growth of the program over time. When I came in as a freshman, it was only our second year, so it was all underclassmen and a few transfers and guys from the club team as our upperclassmen. It was really cool to see the foundation of the program set. It's different from a lot of the other teams we play, but I think what's special about our team is that we got to lay the foundation and now we get to see where the program goes in the future and I think that's really exciting.”
2aDays: Piggybacking off the last question, did the age of college programs factor into your recruiting search at all? What made you choose BU?
“One of the ways that Coach Polley was able to get a lot of good recruits on board was to explain to them that [they'd] have an opportunity to make an impact on the team really early, and I think in a young program that's one of the strengths. Kids come in as first-year students and are able to make an impact and get a lot of experience under their belt. I was lucky enough to get on the field early on in my career, and I think it helped me as time went on. As for the recruiting process, I think that was one of the pluses of BU. It wasn't necessarily something I focused on, but I think in coming to BU that it was something that was really attractive to me.”
2aDays: You share Nickerson's field with a slew of other sports teams. Do you think this affects practice time, and if so, how?
“In the fall, the fall sports are going to get priority on the field, so we practice early on in the morning and then later on at night. In the spring, we get the priority. It would be nice to have another field to use, I know there's New Balance [Field] with the astroturf, but it's something that the athletic department works really well on. It was pretty seamless transferring from fall to spring.”
2aDays: What was the craziest goal you ever witnessed on the field?
“There are a lot of big goals for sure. I think back to James Burr against Navy in double overtime to win. I think back to Chris Gray against Harvard, behind the back splitting a double team. Those were probably two of the craziest goals I've witnessed.”
* Originally published on June 1, 2022, by Michael Choate
